Tiling of roofs

ABSTRACT

A method and means for tiling sloping roofs in which complementary interengaging shaping on the upper and lower contiguous edges of adjacent tiles are used to allow a first tile to be fitted in position on a tile support and secured at the lower edge, and the upper edge of the next tile is then engaged on the lower edge of the already fixed tile to clip the second tile to the first tile, which then has its lower edge secured to the support, and so on until the roof is completed, the upper edge of each tile having a longitudinal socket which forms part of the interengaging means and forms a water shedding overhang.

United States Patent [191 Pearse et al.

[ Sept. 25, 1973 TILlNG OF ROOFS [75] Inventors: Thomas R. Pearse, Urrbrae; John S.

Allison, Victoria, both of Australia [73] Assignee: Rooftilers (Vic) Pty. Ltd., Adelaide,

Australia [22] Filed: June 7, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 150,463

52 us. Cl. 52/529, 52/550 [51] Int. Cl E04d 3/364 [58] Field of Search 52/529, 533, 522, 52/581, 588, 523, 542, 518, 748

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 1,519,350 12/1924 Belding 52/522 2,811,118 10/1957 Ball. 1,559,967 11/1925 King 1,738,578 12/1929 Hayman...

487,372 12/1892 Montross 52/529 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 1,243,164 1960 France 52/192 Primary Examiner-Frank L. Abbott Assistant ExaminerCarl D. Friedman Att0rneyWofford and Felsman [5 7] ABSTRACT A method and means for tiling sloping roofs in which complementary interengaging shaping on the upper and lower contiguous edges of adjacent tiles are used to allow a first tile to be fitted in position on a tile support and secured at the lower edge, and the upper edge of the next tile is then engaged on the lower edge of the already fixed tile to clip the second tile to the first tile, which then has its lower edge secured to the support, and so on until the roof is completed, thevupper edge of each tile having a longitudinal socket which forms part of the interengaging means and forms a water shedding overhang.

4 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures 1 TILING or ROOFS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improvements in and to the preformed tiles of metal or a similar substance which can either be placed into position as an initial roof or can be placed over an existing roof to either improve the appearance or to increase the roofing efficiency by preventing leakage through the old roof or by placing insulation bats between the new and the old roof to give thermal insulation to the structure.

It has already been the practice in roofing of this type to provide pre-pressed metallic tiles which were adapted to be clipped on to transversely running bearers or stringers, and also it has been the practice to cover old roofs by first securing bearers or support members which extend downwards on the roof, such as in the depending flutes of an iron roof and to then place horizontal members on top of the framework so formed and to attach the tiles to these horizontal members, the tiling commencing at the top of the building and progressing until the complete roof has been covered, the tiles being nailed to the horizontal members at appropriate points to lock the roof in position.

While the methods used heretofore were satisfactory, we have recognised that it would be advantageous if the horizontal members could be dispensed with but according to the present methods this is not possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of this invention to so construct the roofing that the tiles can be placed in position by securing them directly to downwardly positioned supports only, thus effecting a very considerable saving in material and also providing a better and simpler method of tiling.

A further object is to provide interengaging means between tiles which can be simply clipped together to firmly lock one edge of one tile to the next.

It is a further object to provide a tile and assembly which will have a high degree of lateral strength to remove the need of horizontal supports. 7

A still further object is to form a water shedding overhang as part of the interengaging means.

The tiles for this purpose have their lower edges turned downwardly and shaped to form clips to engage the upper edges of tiles which follow immediately beneath each row of tiles, and thus the method of tiling consists in securing a first row of tiles to downwardly positioned supports on a roof at appropriate points and then engaging into the recesses formed in the lower part of this row of tiles the upper ends of the next row of tiles and locking them by swinging down their lower ends to engage the supports, and so on until the roof is completed.

The tiles according to this invention thus comprise a main portion which we will term the body of the tile and shaped upper and lower edges, the upper edge being an upturned portion which serves as a longitudinal stiffener as well as a locking member, the lower edge comprising a downtumed portion which is shaped to have an out-turned attachment flange as well as a longitudinal socket behind same which is adapted to engage the locking member of the next tile.

The method of fixing is to place a tile in position and secure the attachment flange to the supports and to then engage the locking member of the next tile into the socket of the fixed tile by first hooking the top edge of the locking member into a recess by holding the tile at an angle with the lower edge raised and then pushing the lower edge down to force the locking member tightly into the socket with a rotational movement about the upper edge of the locking member.

The actual shape of the interlocking upper and lower ends of the tiles of adjacent rows can vary considerably in their construction but must be such that there is no leaking of water through the joints and this is achieved by turning the lower end of each tile downwardly and then inwardly and upwardly and down again and out to form the said socket which can then take a somewhat correspondingly formed member on the upper edge of the next row of tiles. As stated, the arrangement is such that the upper edge of this next row of tiles is first inserted into the socket while the lower part of the tile is raised and by then swinging it into alignment on the roof the two tiles will be rigidly clipped together.

Sealing means could be incorporated in such a joint. Where necessary under cappings, the ends of the tiles can be bent up. It is interesting to note that condensation flows beneath each tile and onto the top of the next lower tile by virtue of the shape of the longitudinal socket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tile looking from above,

FIG. 2 is a similar view looking from below,

FIG. 3 shows enlarged end views in perspective showing how the edge of the tiles have cutaways to allow tiles to interengage and overlap,

FIG. 4 shows an enlarged section of a portion of a roof showing one tile in position and another being positioned,

FIG. 5 shows the same assembly but with both tiles in their final locations,

FIG. 6 shows a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing tiles fitted over an existing iron roof by securing the tiles to the roof itself,

FIG. 7 shows a sectional front elevation of an assembly similar to FIG. 6 but showing how battens can be placed on an existing roof and the tiles nailed thereto,

FIG. 8 shows the final appearance of such a roof,

FIG. 9 is a detail of a hip cap for a roof carried on bearers,

FIG. 10 is a small part of a roof in side elevation with a part section to show particularly a ridge cap,

FIG. 11 is aperspective view of part of a roof showing a gable and how either a metal box-sectioned barge capping can be used, or a wooden or metal scriber piece, each type being fixed to the facia board.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The body 1 of the tile is shaped to give strength and ornamentation, such as by having ridges 2 across its width, extending transversely at spaced intervals.

At the upper edge, when the tile is in use, is an upwardly projecting locking member 3 which extends first upwardly and then down as shown more particularly in FIG. 3, the downwardly extending portion 4 having a notch 5 at each end to allow the ends of adjacent tiles to overlap when fitted to a roof.

At the lower end is a down-turned portion 6 which curves rearwardly and upwardly and then downwardly a short distance from the body 1 of the tile to form the upper edge of a longitudinal socket 7, the rear wall 8 of which extends down and then out to form the attachment flange 9. The rearwardly and upwardly and downwardly curved socket forms a water shedding overhang behind which the next tile engages.

The socket 7 is of a size such that it neatly accommodates the locking member 3 of the next tile when in use.

The wall 8 is also notched at 10 as shown in FIG. 3, by cutting out the upper edge of the socket 7 for the width of the side lap so that the adjoining tile in the same row can be sprung over the down turned portion 11. The notch on the locking member 3 of both adjoining tiles in the next row downwards eliminates excess metal at this overlapping point.

The centre of both the locking member 3 and the front down-turned portion can be similarly notched as shown at 12 and 13, so enabling a half tile to be made by simply cutting across its width. This notching at the centre being only done where tiles are manufactured in a length to span, for instance, three supports. The notched centre therefore being over a support and not reducing the spanning strength of the tile.

Such tiles can be pressed or roll formed orbuilt up by joining or welding, the method of construction being unimportant.

It will be realised that the combination of the interlocking down-turned portion 6 and wall 8 and the locking member 3 gives a high degree of longitudinal strength and in fact forms as it were a girder at each edge of the tiles. Thus the tiles have inherant stability and require less timber or other frame work to support same.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the bearers 16 which support the tiles run from ridge to gutter, that is they extend downwardly and not transversely as is normal because the tiles by their strong interlock between the members 3 and 6 have ample strength in a horizontal direction.

The bearers or support members 16 to which the tiles are attached can be either of metal or wood, if made of metal it is preferred to have shaped sections which can fit into flutings of iron or the like or be otherwise supported on a roof structure and at intervals preferably equal to the width, or half the width, in a horizontal direction of the tiles, holding means such as nails 17 being provided which will engage the attachment flange 9 of a tile and allow it to be held firmly to the support member, so that a row of tiles can be clipped or otherwise, fixed into position and will then be held by the bearers 16.

It will be realised that spacing of these members is not critical provided appropriate parts of the tiles can be fixed to the support members, it being necessary only to lock the tiles at intervals to these bearers.

In laying the tiles, having placed a row in position, it is then a simple matter to clip the upper end of the next tile into the socket formed on the tile already fixed in position and to swing down its lower edge and in turn fit it to the support and in this way'tilifig can readily continue downwardly along a slope until the structure has been completely roofed.

The tiles can be of steel or aluminum or any other suitable material, or could be moulded from plastics, and can be pretreated so that they do not require painting at any subsequent stage, and it will thus be realised that under the construction envisaged by us it is only necessary to position a series of downwardly running bearers or support members at the roofing locality, either on a new structure or on an old roof, and to level these up and the tiles which form the subject of this invention can then be conveniently locked in position in a downwardly progressive manner which ensures that the new surface itself need not be walked on although this would be possible by the appropriate shaping which gives the high strength. The corrugations or ridges 2 add to the necessary rigidity.

In FIG. 6 is shown how the tiles 20 can be fixed to an existing iron roof 21 by pop-rivets 22 or the like.

In FIG. 7 is shown how battens 25 can be positioned on the upper surface of an existing roof and held by nails 26, and the tiles 27 then fixed to the battens 25 in the same manner as in the construction shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The space 28 can contain insulation material.

Although in the specification we have referred to battens which extend in an up and down direction, it will be obvious that they could be angled somewhat if this were required or criss-cross battens could be used or any other form of support because by the removal of the need to have horizontal members at exact spacing to which the tiles are attached, the actual attachment means are no longer critical and therefore so long as support members are provided to which the lower edges of the tiles can be fixed at intervals along the tiles, (because the tile edges have sufficient rigidity at upper and lower edges due to the turned socketforming portions), a very simple and effective structure results which can be readily placed into position and which allows tiles to be formed which can have a good appearance and which will be held in a rattle-free manner and which could of course be subsequently removed by reversing the procedure if this was necessary.

In FIG. 9 is shown how hip-caps can be attached on the sloping edges 30 by use of members 31 which overlap at 32 as shown and are held by nails 33.

In FIG. 10 is shown how ridge-caps can be attached at the horizontal joining edges 36 of a roof, the members 34 being used and overlapping as in the other case.

FIG. 11 shows how a scriber piece 40 can be used to close the end of a roof, while 41 shows a barge capping.

The ends of the tiles can be staggered as shown at 45 in FIG. 8 or can be in a single plane as shown at 46.

What is claimed is:

1. A tile comprising a longitudinal socket along one edge shaped to have a water shedding overhang, and an up turned portion at the opposite edge adapted to engage in the socket of another tile, whereby to provide a lock of one tile to another with the top edge of the up turned portion engaged behind the water shedding overhang; said longitudinal socket being open at the top by reason of a notch to give clearance to allow the end of one tile to overlap an adjacent tile with the up turned portion of one of the said tiles engaged behind the water shedding part of the other of the said tiles.

2. A tile according to claim 1 characterized in that the said socket terminates in an out-turned attachment flange adapted to be secured by a securing means to a support whereby the securing means are covered by the next lower tile when it is engaged with the first said tile.

3. A tile according to claim 1 characterised in that the longitudinal socket is formed by extending the tile downwards and inwards and then upwards and again hind the water shedding overhang; said up turned portion being doubled back on itself to increase the strength thereof such that the up turned portion in conjunction with the socket forms a rigid member along the edge of engaged tiles; said doubled back portion being notched at the end of the said tile to give clearance to allow the end of one tile to overlap an adjacent tile. 

1. A tile comprising a longitudinal socket along one edge shaped to have a water shedding overhang, and an up turned portion at the opposite edge adapted to engage in the socket of another tile, whereby to provide a lock of one tile to another with the top edge of the up turned portion engaged behind the water shedding overhang; said longitudinal socket being open at the top by reason of a notch to give clearance to allow the end of one tile to overlap an adjacent tile with the up turned portion of one of the said tiles engaged behind the water shedding part of the other of the said tiles.
 2. A tile according to claim 1 characterized in that the said socket terminates in an out-turned attachment flange adapted to be secured by a securing means to a support whereby the securing means are covered by the next lower tile when it is engaged with the first said tile.
 3. A tile according to claim 1 characterised in that the longitudinal socket is formed by extending the tile downwards and inwards and then upwards and again down to form the water shedding recess, and then outward to complete the socket and to form the attachment flange.
 4. A tile comprising a longitudinal socket along one edge shaped to have a water shedding overhang, and an up turned portion at the opposite edge adapted and dimensioned to neatly engage in a socket of an associated tile, whereby to provide a lock of one tile to another with the top edge of the up turned portion engaged behind the water shedding overhang; said up turned portion being doubled back on itself to increase the strength thereof such that the up turned portion in conjunction with the socket forms a rigid member along the edge of engaged tiles; said doubled back portion being notched at the end of the said tile to give clearance to allow the end of one tile to overlap an adjacent tile. 